Hard drive shown as 2 disks - how to combine?

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

  1. Posts : 18
    Windows 7 Ultimate
       #1

    Hard drive shown as 2 disks - how to combine?


    I have a 3 TB hard drive connected to a Windows 7 computer. The very first time I connected this hard drive Windows "lured" me into formatting the drive and the result was that the drive showed up as a 750 GB hard drive. Whatever I tried later to get this drive back to 3 TB failed. Now this drive shows up in Disk Management as

    Disk 1
    Basic
    2047.88 GB .......... 2047.88 GB
    Online ................. Unallocated

    and

    Disk 2
    Basic
    749.39 GB ............ 746.39 GB
    Online .................. Unallocated

    How can I reformat this disk back to being one disk with 3 TB?

    Thanks for your help.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #2

    Post a maximized/resized screen print of Disk Management so all info is displayed using these instructions:
    Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image

    MY GUESS is you will need to initialize the 3TB HD as GPT to use it as a single drive/partition.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 18
    Windows 7 Ultimate
    Thread Starter
       #3

    OK, here it is:
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Hard drive shown as 2 disks - how to combine?-diskmanagement.png  
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #4

    That doesn't show all info, you didn't follow the tutorial instructions.
    The "C" drive isn't shown in the bottom pane.
    I'm guessing it is Disk 0, but you didn't scroll the bottom pane to the top.

    I'm guessing you have a Legacy BIOS / MBR boot disk, but i can't be sure with what you displayed.

    EDIT:
    I see you updated the screen print !
    Last edited by DavidE; 07 Jun 2016 at 09:54. Reason: EDIT
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 18
    Windows 7 Ultimate
    Thread Starter
       #5

    I updated the screen shot already and it shows now also C.

    I think Disk 1 and Disk 2 (which is physically one 3 TB disk) are both GPT drives. When I right-click Disk 1 or Disk 2 I have these options:

    New Spanned Volume...
    New Striped Volume...
    Convert to Dynamic Disk...
    Convert to MBR Disk
    Properties
    Help
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #6

    I would get Partition Wizard (PW) and see what you can do.
    I'm assuming you have nothing on the 3TB drive you need to keep (they are unallocated now).
    https://www.partitionwizard.com/free...n-manager.html

    With PW you can delete your 2 partitions on the 3TB, then initialize it as GPT.
    See if that makes a difference.

    A 3TB drive can be initialized as GPT on a Legacy BIOS/MBR OS using full capacity for a single drive/partition.
    My screen print shows i have this.
    If that doesn't work, it may be an issue with the specific HD make/model you have.

    I can't test the exact steps to do this in PW, i don't want to lose what i have on my 3TB HD.

    Hard drive shown as 2 disks - how to combine?-diskmgmt-02.png
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 18
    Windows 7 Ultimate
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Thanks. I deleted the partitions. However, I still see 2 separate GPT volumes ... and I don't know how to make them into one. To me it seems as if these two volumes are not seen as partitions but as truly two physically different disk (but I'm not sure I know at all what I'm talking about here).

    The hard drive is a Seagate ST3000DM001. I'm sure it came originally formatted as one 3 TB drive. It was this darn reqeust by Windows to initialize it when it got connected the first time that screwed it up.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Hard drive shown as 2 disks - how to combine?-pw1.png  
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #8

    You could do a diskpart clean to see if that will help fix this.
    That should remove any junk that may be causing a problem.

    Disk - Clean and Clean All with Diskpart Command
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 18
    Windows 7 Ultimate
    Thread Starter
       #9

    ... just found another option in PW to delete partitions. One minute ...

    (Looks like it takes more than just one minute. Will report here as soon as PW is done with the job.)
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #10

    No problem, if that doesn't help did you see my post about using diskpart clean ?
      My Computer


 
Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 7 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 7" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:12.
Find Us